Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Purchased by Cibc World Markets Corp

Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its position in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,902 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,995 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp's holdings in Sempra were worth $8,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Sempra by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 7,423 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 0.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $77.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $81.58.

Sempra Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:SRE traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.56. The company had a trading volume of 7,235,223 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,350,219. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.36 and a 200 day moving average of $83.57. The company has a market cap of $45.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra's dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Sempra Company Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.